Very dense black colour tight funky smell had us wondering but it cleared in the glass. Taste developed and opened out delivering chocolate and tar and caramel under dense fruit.
A most intriguing wine.
According to the back label it is a blend of four varieties
- Barbera
- Marzemino
- Incrocio Terri
- Schiava gentile

No Vintage was indicated but some solid sediment was deposited ** update ** I later returned to have this intriguing wine again. This wine had the year 1999 plus the lot number overprinted on the back label. I assume they missed the label on the first wine.

2nd time around it was even more delightful -- I insisted on having the wine chilled.

€22 in restaurant in Sirmione, Italy

Last edited by Peter May on Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thank you for posting this. Italy's full of small weird appellations that never see the light of day.

Lombardy especially is a neglected region.

I will go visit this producer. Thanks for the tip.

And its very wise of you to stick to local wines on your trip to beautiful Sirmione. Wines taste best in their localities and only a smal percentage are exported (and usually only big names like Allegrini). Italy's full of small producers that simply make to little wine to be exported or they just don't want or need to.

I'm drinking a Lugana tonight which is from around there and you should try it. Very sapid and minerally with a nose of crusty bread and stone.

I wanted to visit Cellatica after visiting the tiny DOC called Botticino which also does a weird mix of Barbera, Sangiovese, Marzemino and Schiava.

Enjoy beautiful Sirmione and make sure you go to the curative hot springs which have been making people more healthy for 2000 years. (There's all kinds of things you can do from inhaling the vapors to ear treatments.) The Romans loved that place and its probably why Catullus built his Villa there, which as you know can be visited, but there's only a bunch of stones there from what I hear.

Agostino Berti wrote:I will go visit this producer. Thanks for the tip.

Enjoy beautiful Sirmione and make sure you go to the curative hot springs which have been making people more healthy for 2000 years. (There's all kinds of things you can do from inhaling the vapors to ear treatments.) The Romans loved that place and its probably why Catullus built his Villa there, which as you know can be visited, but there's only a bunch of stones there from what I hear.

I would be very interested in hearing about your visit to the producer, and perhaps you can ask if he has an agent in the UK. I drink and taste many wines and I cannot recall one that has made such a big impression on me for a long time that the Negus did. I scoured the local shops looking for it without success.

The Grotto of Catallus is indeed a ruin, but it is amazing. It was enormous and there are huge arches (see below) they built over the cliffs to create a base for the building. It is well worth the €4 entrance fee, good museum tastefully built underground and great views at the tip of the peninsula.